Thousands of Jakartans march for tourism promo
Thousands of Jakartans march for tourism promo
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
About 7,000 Jakartans gathered in front of City Hall on Jl. Medan
Merdeka Selatan, Central Jakarta, on Sunday at around 6:30 a.m.
Nearby, several police officers stood guard and finally turned on
their patrol car siren when the crowd began to stir and advance.
But any fears of a clash ensuing faded, as the crowd -- in
their T-shirts emblazoned with slogans of "I Love Tourism" and
"Enjoy Jakarta" -- were participants of a march held by the
Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Tourism Community (MPI) to
commemorate International Tourism Day, which fell on Sept. 27.
The officers were tourism police, escorting the event in patrol
cars, as well as on horseback and bicycles.
The chapter chairwoman Herna P. Danuningrat said the event was
held to help shake the capital's image as a city of riots and
terrorist attacks, as well as to raise public awareness of the
importance of the tourism industry.
"If we can regularly hold such events, Jakarta will be able to
hold international events again," she said. "Combining it with
sports activities as was done today can be a start for
Indonesia's bid to host the Olympics."
Governor Sutiyoso, who officially started the walk from City
Hall, called on the public to participate in promoting the city's
tourism sector by providing a safe and comfortable environment
for all.
From City Hall, the participants -- holding pink and blue
balloons -- walked along Jl. Thamrin, singing Halo-Halo Bandung
and other patriotic songs.
At the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, the participants placed
colorful posters expressing their hopes and wishes for the
development of the country's tourism on five "trees of hope"
provided by the organizers.
The five-kilometer walk turned back and ended at the Office of
the State Minister for Culture and Tourism on Jl. Medan Merdeka
Barat, with the crowd welcomed by a tanjidor (native Betawi
orchestra) and ondel-ondel (giant effigies clad in Betawi
costumes) performance and an exhibition of various traditional
handicrafts.
Minister I Gede Ardika thanked all participants and expressed
hope that the event would show that Indonesia -- particularly
Jakarta -- was an ideal tourist destination.
The event was also marked by a cleanup drive, with organizers
telling the crowd to throw any litter they have in the trash bags
provided.
The event ended with a mass work-out and the drawing of the
main door prize of return tickets to Bali for two.